Employee Monitor and Web Filter Topics

Although BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is a landscape that is constantly in flux, developing a policy for BYOD security is a critical first step in stabilizing this environment. Businesses and institutions need to understand that there are many things that they can do to create a strong security policy. This can be accomplished by realizing that there are a number of fundamental policy concepts that can provide a framework that will accommodate the changing landscape.

Since employees desire to use all manner of mobile devices in the workplace, security is the primary concern. Consequently, the policy must work hand in hand with the security measures that are enacted by the IT department. Although the goal is to clearly define those devices that can be used and how they can be used in the workplace, IT departments must work in partnership with other major departments and C-suite level players to make these determinations.

Not only should the BYOD policy clearly define accepted devices as well as the resulting security policy for each, they must also describe the security software requirements as one of the security that would be in place. Its best to choose a software solution that can allow remote monitoring, blocking and filtering of the activities on a wide variety of devices as well as respond to Apps, private clouds, Wi-Fi networks and remote desktop services. More about this topic...

Commonly known as cyber-attacks, data breaches, or cybercrimes, data theft (whether it is internally or externally driven) can bankrupt the average business. During the fallout of a data breach, businesses can lose proprietary data that form the core of their capital-generating strategies. The aftermath of this can result in massive lawsuits. As these incidents increase, businesses are asking how much a cyber incident could cost them.

The U.S. government collects information on cybercrime and cyber espionage through various means. Yet, it is still difficult to accurately assess the cost of cybercrime for the average business because of varying business landscapes and the diversity of cybercrime attack methods. In addition, businesses are often reluctant to report these incidents due to the potentially devastating fallout or further exposing vulnerabilities that subsequent cybercrime provocateurs could exploit.

Many reputable cybercrime surveys peg the average business’s annual losses at anywhere from $1 million to more than $3 million. This falls in line with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) 2014 Global Economic Crime Survey, which found that 7 percent of U.S. organizations lost $1 million or more due to cybercrime incidents in 2013. The survey went on to show that 19 percent of U.S. entities reported financial losses of $50,000 to $1 million, compared with 8 percent of worldwide respondents. More about this topic...

Today, most businesses rely on having fairly unrestricted access to the Internet as a tool in bottom-line productivity. Without balancing that unrestricted access with the use of web monitoring software for employee computer and network users, the bottom line benefits to open access quickly erode. Here are some of the things that can happen without web monitoring and filtering software that lead to costs that outweigh the benefits of open access.

Web monitoring software for your business is actually about safeguarding your network, assets, investment and reputation. One of the chief ways that businesses can get burned without web monitoring software is by having a compromised network where data loss will likely occur.

When employees access compromised sites or download infected files, they can compromise the network and put proprietary data at risk. Even one computer that is infected with malware, toolbars, adware, and other “add-ons” can spread throughout the network and cause system instability. Once inside a network, worms can spread fast, and that one user’s misstep on the web impacts everyone and the daily operations of the business. The cost in time and money to get things back on track is always more than any business wants to expend. More about this topic...

As businesses of all sizes increasingly use cloud storage and services and incorporate the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) approach to employee management, malware and spyware are growing threats that can financially cripple or destroy a business. While it is important to understand the true costs of these attacks on a business, it is best to start with an explanation of the difference between malware and spyware and approaches to removing them.

What are Malware & Spyware?

Malware, which is short for “malicious software”, is designed to infiltrate and damage a computer without your consent. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, scareware and more. It can be present on websites and emails or hidden in downloadable files, photos, videos, freeware or shareware.

Spyware focuses on surreptitiously collecting information about your usage through approaches like key logging to record your keystrokes. Spyware usually doesn’t self-replicate like other forms of malware. However, like other forms of malware, spyware can cause just as much harm to a computer, a network and a business. This can have dire financial implications for a business if the spyware is able to access the business’s or its customers’ financial data.

Pearl Software announced the release of Echo.Cloud.Filter™, its cloud-based Web filtering solution. The Echo.Cloud.Filter provides organizations with over 60 content categories to block including custom Web white and black lists. Because its Web filtering occurs in the cloud, the solution is operating system and device independent. Filtering rules can be implemented without installing software on endpoints or adding additional hardware on-premises. Administrators can be confident that access to Web content is in line with policy, even if users are guests on the network or bring their own devices (BYOD) to use on an organization’s Wi-Fi hotspot.

“IT staff has the incredible challenge of securing their network while trying to accommodate users’ as they detach from their desktop with their personal devices like smart phones and tablets,” said Pearl Software CTO, Joe Field. “With Echo.Cloud.Filter, users of an organization’s Internet are easily pointed to our filtered DNS servers where custom access rules are applied. Administrators log into the Echo.Cloud.Filter portal to view usage details as well as set policy.”

Echo.Cloud.Filter provides organizational-level reporting and filtering policies. The product is configured in minutes as there is nothing to install and nothing to maintain. The Echo.Cloud.Filter DNS servers are redundant and multi-tiered, capable of filtering every URL request and either honoring them or redirecting them to a default or custom warning page. The Web filtering rules are based on Pearl’s Echo.Fitlers™ URL filter database, a component of Pearl Software’s leading suite of Internet monitoring and control products. For organizations needing additional monitoring and control features, Pearl Software provides Website.Echo as well as its flagship product, Pearl Echo.Suite.